A Miracles in Roanoke - My New Tank Build
- Thread starter eengmd
- Start date
You are welcome to come by some time and check out the set up. Hopefully around the holidays I can host a meet.
Yep, but the one cropped out is not from you. It will be interesting to see how they turn out under the Radions. After they settle I will have to arrange my corals using Whitby's color wheel. More on that later.
Relatively new. Let us know how the AI lights turn out.
Thanks for the reminder. That is exactly why I have the thread, to get input from fellow reefers. I did not q tank this specimen as I currently do not have the lighting to maintain him. I did carefully inspect the foot and took a rotating brush on the shell just in case. Being a statistics guy, I well realize it is impossible to make crypt 100% eliminated without quarantining every thing for 8-10 weeks, which I unfortunately do not have patience for. I have found quarantining while medicating difficult due to the frequency of water changes, the more stressful environment of the sterile PVC decorated Q tank versus live rock, microfauna, algae, etc. The question boiled down to 8 weeks of the clam in Q tank without mature water and inadequate lighting versus small risk a crypt cyst survived and erupt into tomites several weeks later. As hard as I am going to try to do things by the books, this clam and 2 blood shrimp went directly into the tank without quarantining.
I do have 2 sps colonies that had AEFW on them that are struggling in q tank. I may just sacrifice them instead of struggling. They are in levamisole and being dipped. I have an enchinata with AEFW that is not being dipped but in levamisole.
First Algae Harvest
Here is a picture of my first algae harvest from the ATS. While I have not been feeding fish, I have still tried target feeding my corals in the tank. I do not normally feed when I have fish in the tank. Not bad for just one month's worth. The harvest was about a 1.5 cups worth. My understanding is this will increase and the screen fills in. Keep in mind the algae growth is about equal on both sides of the screen.
Here is a picture of my first algae harvest from the ATS. While I have not been feeding fish, I have still tried target feeding my corals in the tank. I do not normally feed when I have fish in the tank. Not bad for just one month's worth. The harvest was about a 1.5 cups worth. My understanding is this will increase and the screen fills in. Keep in mind the algae growth is about equal on both sides of the screen.
The screen is about 7x7 inches. 5 weeks for my first harvest. The second one will be in another week. It grows pretty fast. Nitrates are .1, phosphates 0.03 using salifert and Hanna meter respectively. I could hang a screen but there would be a lot of salt creep. The flow over the screen is about 250 to 300 gallons per hour. The concentrated LEDs allow for faster growth and also keep the sump free of coralline and other unwanted growth. The box also keeps everything very quiet. I have seen some people hang a screen like you suggested but without adequate flow you either have smell or suboptimal growth. Come by and check it out sometime.
ade
New member
Its a cool concept but I would think that is would have to be a LOT larger imo to take out enought nutrients for your size tank. With the size of that screen you will be cleaning that thing every other day once your tank is stocked with fish and you are feeding.The ones I have seen over the years have been huge, as in multipal 24" x 24" screens.
Your also running GFO ? or have you stopped that?
Your also running GFO ? or have you stopped that?
PM me for the details. I have been very happy with this form of filtration. Harvested another 1.5 cups of dense algae in one week.
Sorry for the late reply to questions and PMs. My family and I went to Chicago last week. We had a blast. The Shedd was a great experience. My son got to pet a penguin, and my 3 year old daughter made me proud when she said look at the copperband and anthias when other kids said look at that orange fish. The only thing that would have made the trip perfect would have been an alma mater victory. We lost in the last minutes losing a double digit lead and missing a game winning fg.
My son with Willie the Wildcat
My son with Willie the Wildcat
I am not running gfo right now. Phosphates are 0.03 checked with a Hanna photometer. The screen is small but ATS are now sized by cubes of food and not tank sizes like skimmers. I'm still running the Bubble King but I'm certainly not having to clean it much. I have cleaned it twice thus far. It looks like i will harvest a dense 1.5-2 cups of algae every week. I'm feeding my corals heavily right now which I will back off when it is restocked. Currently I have the ATS and skimmer and that is my filtration. Reef central has some very good reading about the ATS in the advanced topics. The beauty of this ATS is it is very compact, the spectrum is spot on for algae growth, it had no smell, and it is very easy to manage. It is certainly more efficient than cheato. I think this would be an excellent filter for a sumped nano. Come by and check it out if you desire.
are you going to around this weekend? have to come into town text me if you have time.
lighthouze08
New member
i always wanted to try out the algae turf scrubber, seeing yours scrubber + algae in my tank gave me the last push to make my own. It's up and running for a day now. I'll see how it goes in a few weeks
Just a quick update. I got ich back and discovered a goby I thought was dead still in the tank. Now I will probably be truly fallow until February. I guess this hobby truly takes patience. I tried feeding with garlic and metronidazole and the fish continue to have a few spots but I know the moment I add another fish, the ich will come right back.
Good news is despite not running a skimmer my phosphates remain at 0.06 on the ATS alone despite 2 cubes of food a day with nori. I'm continuing to harvest about 1.5-2 cups of algae a week. I got some wicked Sps in q tanks right now. I'll post some pics this next week.
Happy Thanksgiving fellow reefers.
Good news is despite not running a skimmer my phosphates remain at 0.06 on the ATS alone despite 2 cubes of food a day with nori. I'm continuing to harvest about 1.5-2 cups of algae a week. I got some wicked Sps in q tanks right now. I'll post some pics this next week.
Happy Thanksgiving fellow reefers.
SantaMonica
Well-known member
Nice to hear of the good water conditions with little effort 
Just rechecked parameters. I have received a lot of questions on the ATS. Basically I have been feeding the equivalent of 2 cubes of food a day. I turned the bubble king back on and I am very happy with the water quality. I harvest the algae once a week or so. It is dense and thick. It is very simple. I turn of the valve, unscrew the union to the scrubber, and take my kent marine scrapper and remove the algae from each side. Then I place the screen tube back in, screw on the union and turn back on the valve on my manifold. Here are some pics from today's harvest.
Side view about 1 inch thick
Harvest amount
Phosphates with ATS and skimmer
Side view about 1 inch thick
Harvest amount
Phosphates with ATS and skimmer
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
That is nice thick green growth! Sorry to hear about the ich problems and having to go fallow..twice!! What a bummer. But that will also give the tank a chance to establish bacterial colony based on flow pattern and go through the necessary undetectable mini-cycles that would otherwise likely stress your fish additionally. So there is a silver lining. The scrubber should be pretty well supplied with nutrients during this fallow period, but I would still target feed the corals as much as you can, as long as your N and P are under control.
Have you had to do any water changes? Are you running the skimmer 24/7? I saw you mentioned the skimmate has lightened up - this may be because it's running in combination with a scrubber. This is a typical effect. You might be able to run it drier or put it on a timer, if it responds well to starting and stopping on a regular basis (some models don't handle intermittent running well)
Have you had to do any water changes? Are you running the skimmer 24/7? I saw you mentioned the skimmate has lightened up - this may be because it's running in combination with a scrubber. This is a typical effect. You might be able to run it drier or put it on a timer, if it responds well to starting and stopping on a regular basis (some models don't handle intermittent running well)
Bud, thanks for your input and your help with the ATS. I still feed a cube of cyclopeeze and target feed mysis to certain corals. I also have aggressively fed marine snow and phyto. When I was not running the skimmer for a while, my phosphates stayed around 0.06. Once I turned the skimmer back on, phosphates last measured at 0.01. I am running the skimmer drier as well. I have done monthly water changes of 30 gallons to replenish trace elements primarily.
As far as going fallow is concerned, I have a fish only with live rock opposite the display but I am still enjoying watching my corals grow, my shrimp dance around, and my clams. I have some more sps to be added soon after quarantining.
I am very thankful for the contributions of SantaMonica & FloydRTurbo to our hobby. Both are true pioneers to reefing. Their posted threads are well worth the read. I am giving up on biopellets and have a higher likelihood for success thanks to their contributions.
As far as going fallow is concerned, I have a fish only with live rock opposite the display but I am still enjoying watching my corals grow, my shrimp dance around, and my clams. I have some more sps to be added soon after quarantining.
I am very thankful for the contributions of SantaMonica & FloydRTurbo to our hobby. Both are true pioneers to reefing. Their posted threads are well worth the read. I am giving up on biopellets and have a higher likelihood for success thanks to their contributions.
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